Trippy Mall Pushes the Limits of What Glass Can Do

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Trippy Mall Pushes the Limits of What Glass Can Do

Emporia is a massive, mixed-used project that houses a three story mall, supermarket, office space, and residential units. The 2,228,130 square foot structure cost just over $390,000,000 with the hope of attracting commuters who travel through a nearby train station. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

The building features a dramatic, curved glass facade that will hopefully beckon potential shoppers towards it's almost unbelievable form. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

There are two entrances to the building. The amber entrance pays homage to semiprecious amber stones produced by resin from Sweden's vast forests. The "Sea" entrance is meant to echo the body of water behind the mall. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

"We explored the use of glass in many ways, both interior and exterior, from the high-tech colored glass entrances to handmade colored glass entrance door handles from Kosta in Sweden’s Kingdom of Crystal, to specially-designed colored glass railings, elevators, and escalators," says Gert Wingårdh. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

In partnership with a forward-looking glass fabricator Crícursa, the individual panes were formed by placing glass sheets into molds that were heated to 540°C, allowing the glass to slump into its new shape under its own weight. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

Green space extends into the Emporia as well in the form of Plantwires, an innovative hanging garden system that suspends giant columns of jungle vines, flowers, and verdant leaves. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

Bold colors and striking angles are two key visual themes repeated throughout the building, no matter how mundane the application. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

The three story mall paired with the bold colors and unconventional layout creates no shortage of striking views. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

In most malls a hallway to a restroom would be a dull beige affair, but at the Emporia, no space goes unadorned with bright colors and careful attention. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

Elements in the Emporia will either command shopper's attention or escape their notice entirely. Photo: Traian Cimpeanu

It will also be used to host concerts and other events. The unconventional covering also gave the the architects an opportunity to hide the ugly HVAC systems underneath man-made "hills," creating a seamless environmental experience. Photo: Fly Fotograf

Designers on the project tried to avoid the "in-between scale," from one centimeter to one meter, to direct attention to the products in the stores. Practically, this meant replacing tiled floors with a terrazzo covering that allows for larger partitions and specifying handrails wrapped in fine grain leather. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

Ample use of glass helps reduce the energy demand of the mall by taking advantage of what sunlight is available in Sweden. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

A rainbow-colored parking garage has space for 2500 cars and provides direct access to the shopping mall. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

The Emporia is open to shoppers now, but represents only a quarter of the master plan for the site which will soon be filled with similarly ambitious structures. Photo: Tord-Rikard Söderström

The developers of Emporia, a new mixed-used development in Malmö, Sweden, wanted to attract commuters from the local train station to the combination mall, supermarket, office tower, and apartment building they planned to create.

Realizing that a stunning design could be a way to attract pedestrians they commissioned Wingårdhs a 170 person architecture firm based in Göteborg, Sweden to use the $390,000,000 construction budget to create a landmark that would act like a beacon to pedestrians. The result is a colorful collection of interior spaces, wrapped in a sinuous, psychedelic surface that appears to be on fire when the sun strikes it right.

The structure's most distinctive features are two colorful glass-clad entrances inspired by nature—an amber colored entrance pays homage to Sweden's trees and the semi-precious stones produced by their resin and a swirling blue entry that echoes a nearby strait. The serpentine surfaces of the building are jolting, but are also notable achievements in structural engineering.

>Covering a surface area of 27,857 square feet, the windows will delight shoppers while enraging window washers.

Glass walls and curved forms have become common features of modern architecture, but rarely do the two go together. Even on buildings where glass appears to curve, they're often faceted and only appear curvaceous from a distance, but each of the Emporia's 804 panes was individually designed and manufactured with a complex curvature to maintain smooth lines throughout the surface.

In partnership with a forward-looking glass fabricator Crícursa, the individual panes were formed by placing glass sheets into molds that were heated to 540°C, allowing the glass to slump into its new shape under its own weight. Once cooled, 3-D data from the molds was compared to a digital scan of the finished glass part to ensure that the final form met all of the mechanical tolerances.

After inspection, bright blue and amber colored plastic films were laminated onto the panes. Finished panes were then glued into aluminum frames which connected to tubular steel structures that were then suspended from the roof slab like curtain walls. In the end, the glass structures cover a surface area of 27,857 square feet and will delight shoppers while enraging window washers.

Color is used extensively in the design, outside and in. Shoppers are directed through the three story space in a "figure eight" pattern which can create a bit of disorientation. Wingårdhs' designers chose to combat this commercial confusion by giving each section of the mall a unique color signature to help shoppers navigate the sprawling structure intuitively.

Bold hues are a signature theme, but many of Wingårdhs' decisions are less obvious. The designers adopted a motto “no intermediate scale,” which basically means, go big or go small, but "avoid the in-between scale, from one centimeter to one meter, to direct attention to the products behind the glass shopfronts," says Wingårdhs.

Practically, this meant replacing tiled floors with a terrazzo covering that allows for larger partitions and specifying handrails wrapped in fine grain leather. Elements in the Emporia will either command shopper's attention or escape their notice entirely.

>Each of the Emporia's 804 panes was individually designed and manufactured.

In the US, malls are synonymous with sprawl and the situation is similar in Malmö. The growing city is expanding into some of northern Europe´s most fertile farming land and the designers decided to try and give some of that space back by constructing a 290,626 square-foot roof park. This green roof will help alleviate flooding, reduce noise, and add thermal insulation to the building while providing a habitat for birds, plants, and insects. It will also be used to host concerts and other events.

The unconventional covering also gave the the architects an opportunity to hide the ugly HVAC systems underneath man-made "hills," creating a seamless environmental experience. Green space extends into the Emporia as well in the form of Plantwires, an innovative hanging garden system that suspends giant columns of jungle vines, flowers, and verdant leaves.

The Emporia is open to shoppers now, but represents only a quarter of the master plan for the site which will soon be filled with similarly ambitious structures.